Tomas Rivas Case: Trial, Appeal, and Civil Suit Against the City

Tomas Rivas, a 21-year-old Las Cruces man, was convicted on February 16, 2026, of three counts of first-degree depraved mind murder for his role in the March 21, 2025, mass shooting at Young Park that killed three people and wounded more than a dozen others. He faces three life sentences with no possibility of parole for a minimum of 30 years, has not yet been sentenced, and plans to appeal.¹²

What Happened at Young Park

Just after 10 p.m. on March 21, 2025, gunfire broke out at Young Park at 850 South Walnut Street during an unsanctioned car meet-up that had drawn roughly 200 people.³ An altercation escalated into an exchange of fire involving multiple shooters.⁴ Three people were killed and at least fourteen wounded, making it one of the deadliest shootings in the city’s history.

The three killed were Andrew “AJ” Madrid, 16, a sophomore at Centennial High School; Jason Gomez, 17, one of six siblings; and Dominick Estrada, 19, who died at MountainView Regional Medical Center.⁵⁶

Charges Against Rivas

Rivas was arrested on March 22, 2025, the day after the shooting, and held without bond at the Doña Ana County Detention Center. He was initially charged, alongside three others, with three open counts of murder.³ Prosecutors later added a conspiracy count tied to Dominick Estrada’s death, so he went to trial facing three counts of first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy.⁷

Las Cruces police said Rivas had been a suspect in earlier cases involving domestic violence and aggravated assault, and that several of the co-defendants had appeared in aggravated assault cases together.⁸ At the time of the shooting he was on conditional release for pending charges in El Paso, Texas. In January 2024 he had been arrested and charged with four counts of smuggling of persons and evading arrest, posted a $70,000 surety bond, and was released; a jury trial set for December 2024 was canceled and the case remained open. He had also been arrested at 17 in 2021 for transporting an undocumented migrant.⁹

The Trial

Rivas was the first of the four defendants to go to trial. Proceedings began in early February 2026 in the Third Judicial District Court before Judge Douglas R. Driggers, with District Attorney Fernando R. Macias and Deputy District Attorney Spencer Willson prosecuting. Samuel Ruyle and Thomas Clark handled the defense.¹¹⁰

Prosecutors pursued a depraved mind murder theory, arguing Rivas fired into a crowd with total indifference to human life. Macias told the court that evidence showed Rivas “was doing everything he could to kill Dominic Estrada.”¹¹ Rivas took the stand and testified that he was at the park for the car meet-up, felt “frightened” and “in danger” during the shooting, and denied intending to harm anyone. He admitted he had lied to police in his initial interview because he was scared and trying to avoid arrest.¹²

Mid-trial, the court dropped the conspiracy charge, citing legal distinctions between willfulness and the depraved mind theory of intent. That left the three murder counts.¹³ On February 16, 2026, the jury convicted Rivas on all three.¹

Post-Conviction Motions and the Planned Appeal

Defense attorney Thomas Clark filed a series of motions to overturn the verdict. On April 10, 2026, Judge Driggers denied motions for acquittal and for a new trial. The defense argued prosecutors had failed to prove Rivas was the proximate cause of the deaths, pointing to questions about which specific weapons fired the fatal shots, and raised concerns about a February 2026 report by Detective Andrew Contreras that Clark said had been disclosed too late.¹¹

A separate motion alleging that the jury foreperson had exchanged text messages with a non-juror during trial went to an evidentiary hearing on May 7, 2026. After testimony from three witnesses, Clark withdrew the motion, and Driggers found insufficient grounds to proceed with the jury tampering claim.²

Clark said he intends to appeal to a higher court, with proximate cause as the central issue, contending jurors failed to follow instructions on the caliber of weapons and which bullets caused the fatal wounds. He told the Las Cruces Sun-News that “at some point either the Supreme Court will agree with the jury or they won’t.”¹⁴ As of mid-2026, Rivas had not yet been sentenced.

The Other Three Defendants

The three co-defendants were tried separately.

Nathan Rivas, 18, Tomas’s brother, was found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder on February 26, 2026. During his trial the murder charges were revised from willful and deliberate murder to depraved mind murder, and a conspiracy count was dropped.¹⁵
Josiah Ontiveros, 16, who was 15 at the time of the shooting, testified he acted in self-defense after being fired on. On April 8, 2026, a jury convicted him of three counts of first-degree depraved mind murder and acquitted him of three conspiracy charges. He faces up to 90 years, and his defense has said it will appeal, citing his age and potential for rehabilitation.¹⁶¹⁷
Gustavo Dominguez, 18, was scheduled for trial in March 2026. No verdict has been reported in the available record.¹⁸

The Civil Suit Against the City

Jason Gomez’s family sued the City of Las Cruces, the Las Cruces Police Department, and the Parks and Recreation Department, along with all four accused shooters, in the Third Judicial District Court. Brought under the New Mexico Wrongful Death Act and the Tort Claims Act, the complaint alleges the city knew unsanctioned car meet-ups regularly happened at Young Park but failed to secure the gates, provide lighting and security, enforce permitting rules, or station police at an event known to draw large crowds.¹⁹ The family is seeking compensatory and punitive damages plus legal costs. The city has declined to comment on the pending litigation.²⁰

1
KRWG. Jury Convicts Las Cruces Man of First-Degree Murder in Young Park Mass Shooting
2
Las Cruces Sun-News. Court Determines Jurors Did Not Act Improperly During Tomas Rivas Trial
3
City of Las Cruces. Police Arrest Fourth Suspect in Young Park Shooting
4
Everytown for Gun Safety. What We Know About Friday’s Mass Shooting in Las Cruces
5
El Paso Times. New Mexico Mass Shooting in Las Cruces: What We Know of Victims
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Las Cruces Sun-News. Las Cruces Shooting: What We Know About Victims, Suspects, Timeline
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Las Cruces Sun-News. First of Four Young Park Shooting Suspects Begins Trial
8
KOAT. Las Cruces Police Share Criminal History of Suspects in the Park Shooting
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KFOX. Las Cruces Young Park Shooting Suspect Had Prior Arrests in El Paso for Smuggling Migrants
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Las Cruces Sun-News. Alleged Young Park Shooter Tomas Rivas Takes Stand in His Own Defense
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KFOX. Judge Denies Motions to Overturn Tomas Rivas Conviction in Young Park Mass Shooting Case
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KFOX. Tomas Rivas Takes the Stand as Both Sides Rest in Trial; Judge Drops Some Charges
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KTSM. Trial Continues Friday in Las Cruces Young Park Shooting
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Las Cruces Sun-News. Tomas Rivas to Appeal Conviction Following Series of Motions for New Trial
15
KOAT. Nathan Rivas Found Guilty in Young Park Shooting
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KVIA. Josiah Ontiveros Found Guilty of Three Counts of First-Degree Murder in Young Park Mass Shooting
17
KTSM. Jury Deliberates in Deadly Young Park Shooting Trial for Teen
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KOAT. Tomas Rivas Convicted on Three Counts of Murder
19
KTSM. Las Cruces Sued for Negligence in Deadly Park Shooting
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Albuquerque Journal. Young Park Victim’s Family Sues City and Accused Shooters